Network Administrator

R

randomwalsh

Expert Member
Joined
Jul 19, 2009
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Location
Durban
Good Evening all,

I have just taken on my company's IT.

Currently of system contains the following:

Veeam

Vmware

Windows Server 2012 R2

SQL 2008

Windows server 2008 R2

Eset

Cyberroam

Two DC (server 2012 R2)

1 file server (server 2008 R2)

1 management server (server 2012 R2)

1 exchange server (exchange 2013)

HP unmanaged switches

About 45 users on either desktops or laptops

What would be the best route, value for money route to become competent and able to take over a network like above?


So I have thought about the following initial path:

CompTIA IT fundamentals

Comptia A+

Comptia Network+

Comptia Server+

MTA: IT infrastructure

MSCA: Server

Is going to a classroom course necessary or can I just get the books and use the internet to glean and learn and then take the exams?
 
excellent!! so do you think its a good idea to do the foundation skills with comptia or with microsoft?
 
When I appoint people, I dont look at their certs, I had too many that told me how good they are and what they can do. (Then giving them a technical test, they fail) For me it's experience.

Can you backup user data, redo a machine with windows and install the correct drivers, and restore data?

I would never say dont go and study, that would be stupid of me, but lets see what you have experience with, and then Ill make suggestions.

See PM
 
Last edited:
Random have you already taken it on?
You are in a possible world of trouble if you have!
Your path is fairly decent but I would rather just start with MCSA and then go from there, the rest of the stuff doesnt take much to figure out.
 
Since you have a Cyberoam appliance I would suggest arranging to do that 2 day course. The devices are very powerful but if you don't know where to start you will find yourself battling to get the network running the way you want.

The first things I have to ask are:

What is the current license for the Cyberoam?
What license do you have for ESET?
Do you have ESET Remote Administrator setup on the server?
 
Hey rocket-boy, yes i have already taken over. I didn't realize how out of my depth I am.
Should I just buy the study guides for MSCA or actually go on a classroom lead training?

@killerbyte currently have 2 cyberoam cr25wING and are subscribed to the follow support:
8 x 5 support
Intrusion Prevention System (IPS)
Gateway Anti-Spam
Gateway Anti-Virus
Web and Application Filter

Eset we have remote administrator setup but I dont think its done correctly as I can't initiate remote tasks to our user from it.
Licenses are - eset endpoint security for end user and eset email security for ms exchange
 
I agree 100% with gfmalan, experience goes a long way, certifications do help though but nothing can prepare you more than experience.

I just started a similar thing, but have some experience from my desktop support days. Honestly, felt the same as you randomwalsh, but decided to ask one or two friends for a bit of assistance and slowly getting there. How you deal with your 'stress' or the feeling of being overwhelmed I think will determine how far you will get.

Take it bit by bit and work through it. If you not sure on something, ask or Google ha ha.

What's your previous experience that you ended up taking over? Surely the company know's your skillset?
 
I would advise to as much as possible move services to the cloud. Use google apps or office 365 for mail, spam protection etc. Get two factor authentication. Get managed switches, subnet the wifi / lan/ voip.
 
randomwalsh said:
Good Evening all,

I have just taken on my company's IT.

Currently, of system contains the following:

Veeam

Vmware

Windows Server 2012 R2

SQL 2008

Windows server 2008 R2

Eset

Cyberroam

Two DC (server 2012 R2)

1 file server (server 2008 R2)

1 management server (server 2012 R2)

1 exchange server (exchange 2013)

HP unmanaged switches

About 45 users on either desktops or laptops

What would be the best route, value for money route to become competent and able to take over a network like above?


So I have thought about the following initial path:

CompTIA IT fundamentals

Comptia A+

Comptia Network+

Comptia Server+

MTA: IT infrastructure

MSCA: Server

Is going to a classroom course necessary or can I just get the books and use the internet to glean and learn and then take the exams?
Click to expand...

I've been around quite a bit,network specialist, network administrator, IT Manager etc. From the years of experience I've gathered, I can tell you that most of the real valuable knowledge I've gained is on the job. My learning journey also gets accelerated when I run into issues,crashes,failures,downtime of any nature because then you learn like a master,and you do it fast because there is a necessity.

The only problem is that its sometimes difficult to put my knowledge ,that I've accumulated through experience ,on paper.

In the beginning it was helpful to have an MCSE although the value of it has been reduced to to dumps.

VCP is good.
MCSE still good for overall knowledge
CCNA for understanding on networking

Things like hardware e.g HP,IBM,DELL etc you learn on the job etc
 
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